“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
“White Racism and Black Consciousness” (paper presented at a workshop sponsored by Abe Bailey Institute of Interracial Studies), Cape Town, South Africa, Jan. 1971
Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged black history, philosophy/religion
Here’s a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Dred Scott Decision, an ignominious moment among several in the history of the United States Supreme Court. This is a full-page worksheet with seven questions; it can be used, therefore, as an independent practice worksheet. But it can also be easily adapted to the needs of your classroom and its students.
What this worksheet does not cite or invoke, and which students really ought to know, is Chief Justice Roger Taney’s infamous statement in the decision, to wit, that Dred Scott, like other Americans of African descent, possessed “…no rights which the white man was bound to respect….” This is a key moment of racist rhetoric in this nation’s history, and one students should be bound to understand. Put another way, anyone who says that racism isn’t a fundamental element of United States history really ought to have his or her nose rubbed in Justice Taney’s statement.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“African religions: Indigenous religions of the African continent. The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continent’s major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths to explain their significance. Animism is a common feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to witchcraft and sorcery.”
Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged black history, philosophy/religion
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Ethiopia. This is a full-page worksheet with 14 questions, which the subject clearly merits. But like everything else at Mark’s Text Terminal, you can modify this Microsoft Word document for the needs of your students.
Incidentally, while the reading does mention that Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian nations on earth, it does not mention the extraordinary rock-cut, monolithic churches in the town of Lalibela. These structures and their history probably ought to accompany any teaching about Ethiopia.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Violence is as American as cherry pie.”
Press conference at Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committed headquarters, Washington, D.C., 27 July 1967
Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged black history, united states history
Here, for the first Weekly Text in observance of Black History Month 2021, is a reading on Huey P. Newton along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
In the mid-1970s, among my crowd in high school, Huey P. Newton was a bona fide hero. He co-founded, with Bobby Seale (another of our heroes), the Black Panther Party, (a heroic organization), which among many other things, fed breakfast to impoverished children and challenged the kind of police brutality that brings us events like the patently racist and sadistic murder of George Floyd in 2020.
It’s quite possible that your students may know Huey’s name. A panoply of rappers, including Tupac Shakur, Dead Prez, The Flobots, Public Enemy, Ab-Soul, Buddy and A$AP Ferg, and the great Kendrick Lamar have alluded to Huey in their rhymes. Pop artists like St. Vincent, Ramshackle Glory, Bhi Bhiman, and the Boo Radleys have also mentioned Huey in their songs. The character of Huey Freeman in Aaron McGruder’s brilliant comic strip and television show The Boondocks, a favorite of many students I’ve served over the years, is named for Huey P. Newton.
My own personal favorite pop-culture reference to Huey occurs in the 1979 film Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, which Eddie Murphy regards as the greatest stand-up comedy performance ever captured on film. At the 1:06:54 mark (thanks to Wikipedia for that) of Mr. Pryor’s performance, he calls out to raise the house lights and introduces the audience to Huey P. Newton–who, alas, does not appear on camera.
Finally, I found Spike Lee’s production of Roger Guenveur Smith’s celebrated solo performance in A Huey P. Newton Story to be utterly riveting. Mr. Smith uncannily captures Huey’s deep intellect and abiding compassion, but also his essential shyness and even diffidence. I highly recommend this film.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, The Weekly Text, Worksheets
Tagged black history, building vocabulary/conceptual knowledge, diction/grammar/style/usage, drama/theater, high-interest materials, music, questioning/inquiry, readings/research, united states history
“Sterling Allen Brown: (1901-1989) American poet, folklorist, editor, and critic. Brown was one of the first writers to identify folklore as a vital component of the black aesthetic and an important form of artistic expression. His first collection of poems, Southern Road (1932), was a critical success, fusing elements of ballads, spirituals, work songs, and the blues into narrative poems generally written in a Southern dialect. Two of Brown’s works written in 1937, Negro Poetry and Drama and The Negro in American Fiction, are major books of criticism on African-American studies. In 1941, Brown, along with colleagues Arthur P. Davis and Ulysses S. Lee, edited the The Negro Caravan, which was considered by many “the anthology of African-American literature.” With the publication of The Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown (1980), Brown won the 1982 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and received widespread and deserved recognition.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE was founded in 1942, and pioneered the use of nonviolent direct action in the struggle for civil rights and simple justice for Americans of African descent. It is impossible to underestimate the importance of CORE, which is why your students should learn about it. This is a half-page do-now exercise that serves as a general introduction to the organization. Needless to say there is a great deal out there about CORE and its founders.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings and lawyers.”
Richard Pryor, quoted in Robert Byrne, The Third and Possibly the Best 637 Things Anybody Ever Said (1986)
Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged black history, humor, literary oddities, united states history
Sadly, we recently lost him; here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Henry Aaron. If you’re interested in an Everyday Edit worksheet on this exemplary American and great athlete, you can find one here. Moreover, I have a number of materials on Mr. Aaron prepared for publication here, so stay tuned if you or your students are interested in him–and don’t forget to use the search bar on the homepage of this blog.
If you are interested in learning about Hank Aaron’s Civil Rights activism, check out his friendship with the legendary Wisconsin Civil Rights attorney Vel Phillips.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
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